


Story of the cheating elfking

by Mercykiller



Category: LARP - Fandom
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-20 01:44:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15523326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercykiller/pseuds/Mercykiller
Summary: A stormy night means shelter is sought. But at your own risk.A story of a friends Orc LARP character.





	Story of the cheating elfking

The wind howled through the trees, the creak and groan rumbling together with the thunder that rolled across the sky. Crashing lightning briefly lit the sky one crack at a time, briefly illuminating the inky black forest as the rain lashed down in torrents to soak the ground. The rivers overflowed their banks, picking up debris and churning the soil to mud.   
It would be a fool’s errand to travel in such conditions, take a wrong turn in the dark and it would land even a seasoned traveller in trouble. But there was a few who dared to make their way through the horrific conditions to find shelter. Even the sharpest of eyes would struggle to spot the moving bulk of the trio, even on a clear night. They kept to the low laying undergrowth, hunched against the wind and moving as quickly as they could, weaving through the larger trees and pausing only when the lightning flashed across the sky, using their rough and shaggy clothing to blend into the forest. They were headed towards a cliff in a rocky outcrop, the overhanging rock a natural shelter from the weather.  
Luck was on their side it seemed, as they approached the face of the cliff it sunk deeper into the hillside, a natural shallow cave that they could seek further refuge in.

The 3 forms straightened, dripping rainwater and shaking free debris that had caught in their clothing, two of the forms were much larger than the third and they shook themselves like dogs, spraying water everywhere, unslinging their shields and throwing them against the cave wall, then doing the same with their weapons before plonking themselves down on the ground and trying to wring the water from their clothing and hair.   
The smaller of the trio remained at the cave entrance and looking into the inky wet night, he had seen something that had caught his interest as they had made their way through the forest before the storm hit and forced them to find shelter, now trying to pin point it through the torrential rain.   
“Boss, we lost the grub.” Rumbled the larger of the pair from behind him, breaking the smaller one’s concentration who turned and watched as the pair dug through their various pouches and bags.  
“And the grog.” Grumbled the other.  
The third dragged a hand over his face in mild frustration, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb feeling the bumps of scar tissue and bars of wood that ran under the skin. He rolled his eyes at the others petty needs, knowing that they would be fine for the rest of their journey once the weather cleared, turning back to watch the lightning flicker and dance through the clouds.

There, a flicker of golden light in the distance, the glow of a hearth fires no doubt, and if the rain wasn’t as heavy the breeze would have carried the smell of wood smoke.   
“Make yourselves useful, start a fire and wait until I return.” He ordered the others and melted into the night before there was any sort of protest.   
The going was hard, the wind drove the rain into his face making it hard to see properly and he lost his orientation several times before he could make out his quarry clearly and made his way towards it. 

The building turned out to be a large inn, with a few smaller huts behind it, everything had been built in a natural clearing that sheltered it from the worst nature could throw at it, likely not far from a main road either.   
It made from thick logs interlocked together, as the figure moved closer he could make out that the windows were paned with thick translucent glass, there were shadows of figures moving about inside but he couldn’t make out any further details. Above the door hung an old beaten sign that swung with every gust that blew past. The imagery was a pair of crossed knives over a stein of foaming beer. A rough wooden board was hammered into the ground net to the door with a few nailed embedded in it, likely where flyers had been until the weather had turned sour. But down in the bottom corner was carved small symbols, ones that were recognisable as thieves’ code, the establishment was a refuge from law enforcement that might pass through the area, most would accept bribes to move on.  
The figure grinned to himself and pushed open the door.

“Orc!” Came the startled shout and there was the scraping of chairs being pushed back on the hard-wooden flooring as few figures went for the weapons on their belt, but most of the patrons returned to their own business unphased by a singular orc standing in the doorway looking like a drowned rat.   
He sneered, flashing uneven pointed teeth in black gums and simply walked passed the tables towards the large muscular man behind the bar which had a large hammer hanging above it, no doubt what the man wielded when necessary.   
A large tankard of black ale was in front of him on the rough bench before even a word had passed his lips. The orc studied the man briefly, he was muscular, it was fading with age, evident from the greying hairs in the man’s receding hairline, his clothing was well made but well worn. Large hands were covered in scars and inkers marks decorated the rest.   
“I want none of ya kinda trouble ya hear. Find a spot and make no issues and you’ll be left alone.” The barkeep spoke roughly with his arms crossed over his barrelled chest.  
“Find me a meal and I’ll mind my own business.” The orc shot back and flicked a small silver coin at him before taking the tankard and moving towards the large hearth that was set into one of the walls. A large cast iron pot hung to one side, some sort of a meat stew bubbling away over some larger coals that that been pulled from the fire as new logs were set into it.   
The patrons that were seated nearby promptly shuffled out of the way to allow the orc some space to seat himself with the fire at his back. Shrugging off the matted fur cloak that had soaked through he dumped it over the back of a spare chair and leaned back in his own and took a mouthful of his drink.   
The inn’s occupants soon returned to their own business, the chatter bubbled forth as the booze made loose tongues of them all now that the orc had settled into his spot and obviously wasn’t going to cause them trouble. Food was soon placed on the table in front of him and the orc contented himself with listening in on the humans’ conversations while picking the meat from the bowl in front of him.   
“I told the guy to sod off!! When he didn’t I broke his nose”  
“Can you believe they wanted 3 gold for a goat?!”  
“This one time…”  
“Don’t you even think about it! You’re fuckin broke.”  
“Hahaha, you would not believe what I saw.”  
“…elf king…killed me daughter..”  
Turning his head slightly in the direction of the last fragment of conversation he’d overheard, humans usually didn’t meddle in the affairs of the fair folk so to hear one speaking of them was a rare thing.   
The group was seated not far from him and were hunched in their chairs all looking in the direction of one of the group, obviously the one spinning the tale. As luck would have it he was faced towards the orc so his words carried to the intensely curious ears.   
“..woke up from a night of drinking in the forest. I don’t know how I got there….”  
The orc rolled his eyes and brought the tankard to his lips again, the human was spinning a tall tale to impress his friends.  
“So I stumble home, and as I’m almost back to me house when I see my daughter slipping through the door with her dress all a mess and her hair all undid. She knows she’s not ‘spose to leave the house at night. Anyway I walk in the door and me wife, bless her, is already giving her an earful so I leave them to their woman’s business.”  
“But the next night I see her tryin’ to sneak out again so I give her a lashin’ when I caught her. She’s all crying that she has to meet her true love and I tell her that she ain’t got no business doing no such thing. So, I lock her in her room and she’s up all night sobbing.”   
The conversation continued much to the growing disinterest of the orc who had now polished off his meal and was lazily shredding the last chunk of meat with his claw like nails and using a chunk of bone to pick remnants from his teeth.  
“Bout a week later I see her sneaking out again, stubborn youth I swear. I follow her this time. She’s headin’ for the forest, all the way to the middle of it to that damned fae mound.”   
The orc cocks his head slightly, okay, maybe not such a tall tale after all.  
“And she’s standing there when this… this elf appears from the mound. I dunno how he got there, one moment he wasn’t there then he was. Magiks I say. Before I can do anything though they’re both gone, and all I can hear is them laughing. I stay there all night, watchin’ and waitin’ for them to return. It’s not until daybreak when I hear em come back. I wanna do something about it cause this fae has me daughter in his little mits but me body doesn’t want to respond so I just watch as he gifts her this fine necklace. It’s only after he vanishes again that I can move. I run to get home first and catch her sneakin back in. I give her another lashing but she’s still all smiles and hummin all day, head in the clouds I swear, that elf gone and bewitched her.”   
The human pauses to take a swig of his drink while his friends look at each other with confused and concerned expressions on their faces. Clearly, they don’t believe him. The orc on the other hand is listening intently, his tankard now emptied he waves down a barmaid to get him another, flashing those pointed teeth again so she would move a bit faster.  
With his tongue wetted again the human starts up again.  
“Next night I follow her out again, she’s wearing that necklace again and skipping the entire way I swear. She waits near the damned mound for that elf again and he comes on out but he ain’t alone this time. A she-elf is with him this time, and she does not look pleased one bit. Before I know it she’s screamin at me daughter that she ‘as no right to her king. It’s the bloody King of the fae me daughter got caught up with. Fucks sake.” The man heaves a sigh and rubs his face down, clearly distressed by the part of the story he’s about to tell. The barmaid had also returned with the orcs drink by this time and quickly scampers off after taking the empty mug.  
“Before me eyes the Queen has pulled out this dagger and run the King through the gut. My stupid, beautiful, daughter runs to him wailing, throws herself on the King and begs the Queen to not kill him. God I wish I could have done something, but me body was frozen. Next thing I know the Queen has her by the hair and she’s covered in his blood and just a mess. Then they all vanish. I go running to the mound and search everywhere, nothing. I keep going back every night in hopes of seeing her alive. But the elves have gone and stolen her from me. All I found after that night was that bloody necklace and a scrap of her dress.” He stops his story and looks at his friend who are all shaking their heads at him.  
“Sounds like a tall tale to me. Sure she didn’t run off with some farmer boy?” Commented one with a half smile.  
“Yeah, I mean ya drink a fair bit. This isn’t some dream you keep havin’.” Jabbed another, clearly not believing a word.  
“Ya’ll don’t believe me. But I’ll fuckin show ya.” The man rummages through a coat pocket and pulls out a piece of cloth wrapped around something else, he lays it down on the table forcing the orc to turn his head in their direction to get a good look at what the man is revealing.  
His hands shaking he unfolds the cloth and coiled in the center is an intricate golden necklace decorated with gems and metal flowers. The man’s friends all lean forward to get a better look obscuring the orcs view but he could smell the stench of old blood, however it still held a distinct sweet scent to it that was definitely from an elf. The mans story was true after all, the orc needed that prize for himself for sure, his mind already working out ways to get it.  
“Oi I still recon you’re pulling me leg. Keep this to yourself man or they’ll haul you off to the prison for crazies.” Scoffed one of the friends sitting back in his chair.  
“Yeah, bet ya a years wage she’s just gone run away, she’ll be back when she realises the worlds a shit hole.”   
“Wouldn’t be flashin that gold round neither, someone might recon you stole it and they could see ya hang for that.”  
The man visibly sunk, his story swiftly dismissed as nonsense, but suddenly he began laughing.  
“Yeah you’re totally got me there, musta been some drunk dream I had, no way could that shit have happened except in my wildest dreams. Betcha I had you fooled for a minute there though.” He chuckled wrapping the necklace back up and stuffing it back into his coat.   
“Necklace is nothing but brass and paint.” He laughed heartily, slammed back his drink and conversation turned back to more mundane, trivial topics.   
The orc however now had other plans for the man and by the end of the night that necklace would be his. The blood could be collected off it and it would be a powerful ingredient to have in his collection, but patience would be what would win him the prize, so he would wait.

The orc sat in his spot watching the goings on in the inn as he ate and drank his fill, laughing to himself at the thought of the two orcs he’d left in the cave, probably bored and hungry but not smart enough to do anything about it. The storm slowly blew itself out over the course of the night, the rattle of the windows lessened and the rain eased off to a gentle patter, thunder and lightning still rumbled and flashed but off beyond the horizon. Slowly the patrons began to leave, trickling out in pairs or small groups as the minutes ticked closer to dawn and the barkeep started to cut off the drinks.  
Picking up his cloak from the back of the chair, taking the time to pick out the twigs and leaves that had stuck to it from the storm, casually flicking each piece into the fire but all the while watching for the group of men he had been eavesdropping on, to show signs that they too would leave.   
When they did eventually stand and make their way out, still talking amongst each other, although it sounded closer to slurring, leaning on one another for support as they staggered out the door. The orc waited a few more minutes then left after them. Rain was still gently coming down and the clouds were dark and heavy giving the growing dawn a broody atmosphere. Instead of walking down the same path as the group, he slunk back into the forest, using undergrowth as cover, the rain had soaked the ground enough that the soggy leaves and soil muffled his footsteps, catching up to the group in time to watch the man with the necklace split from the others and stagger down a smaller narrower path into the woods, an ideal spot for an ambush.  
It was perfect.  
Keeping up with the man he unslung one of his daggers, his sword would be useless in such close quarters and showing himself to soon would allow the man to scream, even if it was only briefly the woods would carry the sound all to well in the dawns silence.  
The man paused for a moment and the orc dropped to a crouch watching, waiting ever so patiently, the man muttered something under his breath, a curse of sort no doubt, then doubled over and vomited up all the beer he had drunk that night, the smell of gut acid reached the orcs nose and he wrinkled it in disgust. Humans were disgusting and they couldn’t even hold their booze.  
Now!  
The orc darted from his cover and leapt at the man from the side, one clawed hand lashed out and snatched at the mans hair, yanking back his head and exposing his neck, a gargled yelp of surprise mixed with couch of the sick still in his mouth was all the man could manage before the other hand that clutched the dagger swung up and drove the jagged point into the fleshy hollow of the chin, up through the tongue to lodge the point in the roof of the mouth. The dagger in place the orcs hand went over the mans mouth to muffle the scream, the vomit mixing with the blood as it ran between his fingers. The man gagged and tried to cry out, clawing at the hilt of the dagger and the orcs arms that held him to no avail.   
The orc kicked the back of his unfortunate prey’s knees, letting go of the hair and sent the man sprawling onto his stomach, swiftly he came down with the heel of his boot on the back of the head, the force enough to thrust the dagger through the roof of the mouth and into the brain. The man convulsed, twitching for a moment or two then fell still.  
Before even going for the mans treasure the orc dragged the body into the undergrowth and came back with a large branch that ended in leaves and dragged it across the path, obscuring the marks made by the scuffle. If his friends came looking for him it would be difficult for them to pick up the trail left behind, it now looked like he had simply stepped from the path.   
His tracks covered he tossed the branch into the forest and went back to the body to methodically searching through the mans meagre possessions. There wasn’t much the man carried, a small eating knife, a pouch of copper and silver coins, some string and a broken button, and half finished carved piece of wood that vaguely resembled a bear. The coins and knife were immediately pocketed, then the attention was given to finding the necklace.   
It was in the breast pocket of the coat where the orc had seen the man place it, the sweet tang of elven blood wafted from it, almost delicately it was tugged from it’s spot the cloth plucked aside and revealed properly to the orc.   
The gold chain was decorated with pieces inlayed with pale green gems, larger pinkish stones made flowers and small flat pieces had been curled in to leaves. It would have been beautiful if the links were not clogged with concealed and dried blood. A good soak in oil would draw the blood out and turn it back into a viable liquid without degrading it further.   
The orc grinned to himself, wrapped the necklace back up and tucked it into pouch that hung from his belt, the gods were on his side and he wasn’t about to waste the gift that had been laid out in front of him.  
Wiggling the dagger free from the man’s head the orc set about taking his trophies that consisted of several fingers, a ragged sliver of skin, and an ear. His last act was to carve a rune into the forehead of the man, marking him as an offering to the gods in thanks.  
By the time the orc had finished the sun was rising above the horizon, turning the sky red as the light reflected from the clouds that still lurked in the sky, it was time he made himself scarce and return to the two lumbering orcs he’d behind.  
The trip back was much shorter now that the orc didn’t have to fight against the elements, and he returned in good time. Upon walking up to the cave entrance he found the two larger orcs soundly sleeping, backs propped up against the wall and their heads bobbing against their chest with every echoing snore.  
Useless.  
Each sleeper got a swift kick in the stomach and their sword and shields dumped in their laps, grumbles and growls emerged from throats as they hauled themselves upwards, shaking themselves off they looked at the smaller orc.  
“Let’s go. Enough lazing about.”


End file.
